The New York Times analysis’s drug overdose numbers show an unrelenting rise in substance abuse related deaths. From 1999 to 2014, the overdose rate for whites ages 25 to 34 rose by a factor of five and the rate for 35- to 44-year-old whites tripled. The numbers cover both illegal and prescription drugs.

The Times analysis shows that death rate among young whites rose for every age group over the five years before 2014. Educational attainment is also a risk factor for overdose deaths: it rose faster by any measure for the less educated, by 23 percent for those without a high school education, compared with only 4 percent for those with a college degree or more.

The opioid epidemic is also varied geographically across the country. The New York Times provides an interactive map at this site showing the spread of the opioid overdose death epidemic across the country from 2003 through 2014.
For more on this topic and a local, Colorado-based approach to addressing it, please see my earlier blog post here.